Local Government
Local matters are dealt with by Laois County Council which elects 25 members. For the purpose of elections it is divided into five local electoral: Borris-in-Ossory (6), Emo (4), Lugacurran (4), Mountmellick (4) and Portlaoise (7). Laois historically supported Fianna Fáil party in Irish elections. However in the last local election there was a sharp swing to the opposition Fine Gael party. Laois is in the five seat Laois–Offaly constituency for elections to Dáil Éireann.
| Party | Seats | Change |
| Fine Gael | 12 | + 3 |
| Fianna Fáil | 8 | - 3 |
| Sinn Féin | 1 | = |
| Labour Party | 1 | = |
| Independent | 3 | = |
Read more about this topic: County Laois
Famous quotes containing the words local and/or government:
“The improved American highway system ... isolated the American-in-transit. On his speedway ... he had no contact with the towns which he by-passed. If he stopped for food or gas, he was served no local fare or local fuel, but had one of Howard Johnson’s nationally branded ice cream flavors, and so many gallons of Exxon. This vast ocean of superhighways was nearly as free of culture as the sea traversed by the Mayflower Pilgrims.”
—Daniel J. Boorstin (b. 1914)
“There are obvious places in which government can narrow the chasm between haves and have-nots. One is the public schools, which have been seen as the great leveler, the authentic melting pot. That, today, is nonsense. In his scathing study of the nation’s public school system entitled “Savage Inequalities,” Jonathan Kozol made manifest the truth: that we have a system that discriminates against the poor in everything from class size to curriculum.”
—Anna Quindlen (b. 1952)